2018 was a crazy year! I got a late start on my New Year’s Resolution. In fact, I likely wouldn’t even have had one if it weren’t for a suggestion from a friend who was doing a similar activity. “Sure! I’ll do that too!”

The idea was simple: read 100 books in 2018.

Looking back, that was quite the audacious goal. Along the way, I’ve received numerous questions about how I chose the topics, where I bought my books, which was my favorite, etc. I kept an ongoing list on my 100 Books in 2018 post; however, I’ll be doing a broader write up soon with answers to some of those questions.

On To 2019

2018 was a great year of learning. I really value the knowledge I’ve gained and the stories I’ve been able to share because of the books I’ve read. Truly – no regrets. But honestly, I have no interest in setting another reading goal in a long while. I’m on to my next project…and I’ve gotten the crazy idea to try and one-up myself for 2019.

That’s right, I’m going to learn Mandarin Chinese.

Wait… what?

Yeah – I don’t have a lot of details to share right now, but I promise to share more about my practice schedule, training resources, etc. etc. as I get going on this journey.

One might say this New Years Resolution is more like an experiment and a test of my commitment, than it is measuring a fixed outcome. Something to find out: “how fluent can a full-time working parent in the USA get at Chinese in 1 year?” I’ve heard of others doing it in 6 months….3 months?!

I’m not setting any unrealistic outcomes like that, but I am setting small milestones along the way to measure my progress. And I’m not wasting any time. Check out books #98, #99 and #100.